title: Diffusion dynamics of socially learned foraging techniques in squirrel monkeys.
abstract: Social network analyses and experimental studies of social learning have each become important domains of animal behavior research in recent years yet have remained largely separate. Here we bring them together, providing the first demonstration of how social networks may shape the diffusion of socially learned foraging techniques. One technique for opening an artificial fruit was seeded in the dominant male of a group of squirrel monkeys and an alternative technique in the dominant male of a second group. We show that the two techniques spread preferentially in the groups in which they were initially seeded and that this process was influenced by monkeys' association patterns. Eigenvector centrality predicted both the speed with which an individual would first succeed in opening the artificial fruit and the probability that they would acquire the cultural variant seeded in their group. These findings demonstrate a positive role of social networks in determining how a new foraging technique diffuses through a population.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9JP, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Claidière
authors.forename: Emily J E
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Messer
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hoppitt
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Whiten
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D012453:Saimiri / Q000502:physiology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D014741:Video Recording